Sunday, June 3, 2012

In (newly renovated sustainable) Joseph Rowntree School, New Earswick, York, UK, a small revolution is taking place. Quite literally. Young students of the school aged between 11-18 are organizing York+20, engaging children in sustainable development by organizing a series of events.

For MyCity+20 it's particularly exciting to see their innovative action strategy. For this, they are organizing many activities that are very impressive. Apart from debates between young people, local and national MPs (where Adrian Ramsay, the deputy head of the UK Green Party will be present), they are also organizing a flash mob and a self-written environmental musical including music from all over the world. Another interesting idea is the 'dedicated pledge-wall' where invited guests write a pledge about what they will do to improve the environment after the summit.

Before the event itself they are also running many other sustainable activities including:

-a drop-down day within the school, on the 12th of June, where we invite young people to take part in a range of environmentally friendly activities including making bikes out of old un-used parts, i.e. creating recycled bikes

- conducting some research in the local pond and sending the data off to the Natural Science Museum, - creating recycled clothes for a recycled fashion show

- creating films on saving the planet and putting on plays on the topic of sustainability.

-Sending a video recording of three questions to the Nobel Laureates from the Earth Summit in Rio, and seeing their answers on the 18th of June

During the event to, they will be:

- Raffling off signed books by popular UK teen writer Cathy Cassidy and sending the proceeds to green charities plus a school project which sponsors two students to go to school in Malawi

- An "edible insects" stand from FERA.

- Calculating a carbon footprint and literally create a to-scale foot print "shoe" made out of cardboard which needs to be worn by volunteers during the whole event, to show how much impact we actually have on the world!

Inspired by Severn Suzuki's speech at the Rio conference in 1992, the young students have brainstormed a series of creative, thought provoking action plans that is an inspiring example to everyone.

Tuesday, May 8, 2012

This morning, MyCity+20 was invited to the White House for the launch of the "Youth Sustainability Challenge".

Celine (Paris+20) who is currently based in DC and Kate (NY+20) who came from New York were there to represent MyCity+20.

This event was interesting, as it gathered high level representatives from across the Obama administration, including:
- Gary Guzy, Deputy Director and General Counsel, White House Council on Environmental Quality
- Ronan Farrow, Special Advisor to the Secretary of State for Global Youth Issues
- Nancy Sutley, Chair of the White House Council on Environmental Quality
- Bob Perciasepe, Deputy Administrator of the US EPA

The speakers talked about the role of youth in moving towards a sustainable future. They insisted on the crucial role youth had to make change happen in their communities.
Ronan Farrow mentioned the recent youth mobilizations around the World (from Santiago, Chile to Northern Africa, to Spain and Greece) and explained that the time is crucial for youth action. "We need to be the change we want to see" he said. Youth is now more connected and innovative than ever before. We need to use this potential to put our issues on the table and to lead the global conversation.

Speakers insisted that since the last Rio confernence, change happened thanks to young people who have stood up and said that something needed to be done. We should continue to do this today.

The panelists also explained what the administration is doing to promote public engagement within colleges (with the EPA On-Campus Ambassador program), communities, and at the global level.
In different countries, thanks to a powerful network of embassies, the US is trying to empower youth throught the creation of youth councils and though direct conversations with young people. You can have a look at the websites of US embassies around the world to find more about this.

Mr. Gary Suzy presented the "Youth Sustainability Challenge". It calls on young people to submit videos online showing how they make a sustainable difference in their communities. They call for innovative, individual or collective videos, presenting sustainability commitments and innitiatives. The best videos will be shown in Rio and their authors will be invited for an event at the White House.

Another very important part of this event was the presentation of sustainable initiatives led by US young people. Several campus initiatives were explained by students from George Washington University, Georgetown University, American University, and the University of Virginia. MyCity+20 was able to describe its recent successes, and why we think the movement can really make a difference in Rio+20 and in the lives of young people. MyCity+20 was a very good example of "what can we do to advance sustainability", which was the theme of the discussion, and the audience received it very well. The panel, who seemed already familiar with this initiative, congratulated us and said it was a great project to connect different cities and people all over the world. Kate also talked about the success of NY+20 that was held in NY two weeks ago. You can find more info about this here http://newyorkplus20.wordpress.com/

You will be able to find some pictures very soon on our facebook!

Overall, this event was inspiring for the youth audience, we were able to discuss youth commitment for sustainable development with the US Government directly.
Take part in the Youth Sustainability Challenge and add your voice!
We want to thank again the White House Council on Environmental Quality for inviting us there!

Friday, April 6, 2012

The following is a guest post by Nicolò Wojewoda, Director of Road to
Rio+20, a coalition of organizations weaving together a global
youth-led movement towards the Earth Summit 2012.

###

There
are two clear reasons for young people worldwide to drop all plans in the
remaining months until the summer break, and organize a MyCity+20 event.

As
other Model UN simulations, it’s a full educational experience by itself. You learn
about global issues through preparatory research, you develop writing, public
speaking, problem solving, consensus building, conflict resolution, leadership
and cooperation skills. It’s fun.
And it makes for excellent extra-curricular activity, complementing what you
learned in the classroom.

But
if that was all there was to it, we wouldn’t be shouting from the rooftops how
crucial organizing such an event is for the future of your community (or, for
that matter, the world). There are already numerous excellent Model UN events
and networks that do wonders for your CV and professional development
trajectory.

MyCity+20 is about more than that. The
outcome of the simulation is only part of the picture. When you finish your
discussions, when you draft your final declaration, and when you take your
country delegate hat off, you realize something: the simulation is just the
start – action needs to follow.

And
here’s where reality comes into play. Despite being touted by the UN
Secretary-General as one of the most important conferences in the history of
the United Nations, Rio+20 is now flying completely under the radar.
Few governments (if any) are making commitments in policy and funding that
match the current challenges of an unsustainable world and its multiple
multi-faceted crises. Most people around the world don't even know what the
summit or its themes are, due to the notable absence of discussions around it
in schools, universities, and mainstream media channels (aside from the
occasional mention in the environmental column).

There’s
an incredible potential for young generations to take on a leadership role and
address these issues, in international negotiations, and in communities around
the world. Road
to Rio+20 is weaving together such a global youth-led movement, with
its 90+
organizations and their combined outreach to millions of people on
all continents (and yes, even in Antarctica!). Since 2010, we’ve been
mobilizing youth to make their voice heard and to take
action – pushing world leaders in all sectors to play their role in
the development of a more sustainable world, and creating that world ourselves.

On
April 22, Earth Day, we’ll take the next step in our journey by Mobilizing the Earth towards Rio+20. Our hope
is to see MyCity+20 events spread like wildfire all over the world, in quickly
growing numbers from that day of mobilization. Our belief is that these events
can shift the conversation we’re having in our communities, and build solid
plans of action, led by youth, on how to transition those communities towards a
sustainable future.

So
next time somebody asks you “why another
Model UN?”, remind them that yours is not just a simulation, but more of a simul-action. And that when the outcome
of the event is finalized, and all roles have been successfully played, that’s
when the work really begins.

Wednesday, April 4, 2012

Katharina Hess and Susanne Salz of ICLEI explain why local authorities need to be included in and empowered to play a greater role in global environmental governance. To find out more about ICLEI’s involvement with Rio+20, visit their website at www.iclei.org/local2012.

--

ICLEI — Local Governments for Sustainability (ICLEI) is an international association of local governments and national and regional local government organizations that have made a commitment to sustainable development. ICLEI highlights its work with 110 large cities in its membership, 12 of which are mega-cities as well as over 1000 medium-sized and smaller cities and towns in over 70 countries. Amongst others, ICLEI supports cities to become low-carbon, resilient, bio-diverse, resource-efficient, and to green their infrastructure and urban economy and to achieve a healthy & happy community. Its basic premise is that locally designed initiatives can provide an effective and cost-efficient way to achieve local, national, and global sustainability objectives.

ICLEI realizes that summits such as Rio+20 hold great significance in shaping the future we want. We are currently living beyond the carrying capacity of our planet and in the next 40 years we have to build the same urban capacity which we have built in the past 4000 years. ICLEI’s vision is to make systemic changes to ensure sustained human life on earth and for Rio+20 to be more than just a declaration – the conference needs to decide upon and present concrete actions! ICLEI’s submission for the outcome document at Rio+20 therefore calls for a greater role of local authorities in the process, amongst others.

Why cities and local governments you ask? In 2050, 9 billion people will live on this planet with two-thirds of the population living in urban areas. Cities will account for 90% of the global economy and between 2005 and 2025, an estimated 200 trillion dollars will be spent globally on fixed urban assets. This economic growth should be resource-productive, resilient, low-carbon and low-risk urban infrastructure. Moreover, cities will consume 80-90% of the global energy, and will be responsible for just as much greenhouse gas emissions stemming mainly from building heating and cooling, transport and energy production. It therefore makes sense to include cities, and more particularly local governments, in global environmental governance since they are part of the problem but can also be part of the solution.

The idea of MyCity+20 to engage citizens at the local level into the global Rio+20 debates is the embodiment of something at the core of ICLEI: "Think global, act local!". Let's work locally for a successful global Rio+20 conference!

MyCity+20: Are you on the map?

About Us

Our project is aimed at mobilizing the youth world over, educating them on the urgency of sustainable development issues and encouraging them to involve themselves in the negotiation process of Rio+20.
We want to prove that the youth is ready to play an active part in international negotiations and to shape its own future of a sustainable world!
Contact Us at mycityplus20@gmail.com!